I met this guy yesterday an an XPrize Lab @ MIT reception and have to say that I was really impressed. The solution seeking way that he approaches problems is refreshing. For example, he told me that in most cases, Americans looking to save energy would do better to paint their roofs white, than they would to install solar roof panels! For some reason, we politicize problems to the point that it is all meaningless, but as you can see in this interview, this guy is a pure problem-solving engineer. His name is Saul Griffith, he is brilliant, and I guarantee you that you will see a lot more from him in the future!

Interview

Here is an interview where he explains his approach to the problem of global warming:

Link

For more on Saul and his many exciting projects, go to his webiste: http://www.saulgriffith.com/

Midtown Oklahoma City Animation – by Skyline Ink from imagiNATIVEamerica on Vimeo.

For more of Skyline Ink’s amazing work, head to their their website!

New York City’s Department of Transportation recently kicked of their ‘Summer Streets’ program, similar to Bogota’s Ciclovia the program temporarily closes major streets to automobiles, allowing people to takeover the space and use it to walk, bike, or just hangout. Like Bogota, they also provided health and fitness activities to encourage people to get out and exercise.

Do you think this could happen in Oklahoma City? Would we be willing to give some space back to pedestrians, even if only for a day? Creating a permanent pedestrian friendly environment downtown will take some time. It will require the full commitment of the city with each new development, zoning change, and public improvement. But closing a street for a day takes nothing more than the will and a “road closed” sign. If you have ever been downtown during the day on a Saturday, then you know that traffic is not really a problem. It would be great to close a couple streets from downtown all the way to the trails at the river every Saturday. South of 10th Street on Broadway then down Shields to the river is my preference. The YMCA would be able to provide some exercise programming and the two new bicycle shops – Bicycle Alley and Schlegel’s Bicycles – could serve as headquarter for bike rentals, etc.

If you are interested in improving things on a more permanent basis, check out this post on Mapping Pedestrian Friendliness in OKC!

Last Friday Toyota showed off their new Winglet personal-transporter. Apparently, it will only go 3.7 mph, barely faster than the 3.0 mph walking speed of a typical pedestrian. While it seems odd that people would pay for something that requires them to stand up and still only travel at a walking speed, there is certainly a cool factor here. Also, persons with mobility problems could benefit greatly from such a device. Either way, this is only the first generation we are talking about; I am sure they will increase the speed in the future.

Not sure what the price is yet, but it did get me thinking. What if we made these available all over downtown like a bike sharing program. You know, so that people that have to park far away from Bricktown, would be able to Winglet it instead. I know I would park at the Galleria for the chance to buzz through downtown on one of these things. In fact, for the $21 million we discussed spending on a downtown trolley, we could provide personal transporters for all of the disgruntled parkers instead. I expect the Winglet to be cheaper than the Segway, but even if we were to spend the $4,500 it costs to buy Segways, we could afford to put over 4,600 of them spaced throughout downtown. It would definitely be fun to watch on Friday nights when the bars let out – that is for sure!

Anyway, don’t get too excited about the Winglet yet, they won’t hit the market until around 2010.

Here is the video:

If you want to read more about the Winglet, here you go:

• Gaurdian.co.uk: Not a Segway but a Toyota Winglet personal transporter
  
• Cnet Crave: Segway, meet the Toyota Winglet

I’m a big fan of the Flaming Lips and a huge fan of their lead singer Wayne Coyne. I love it that he continues to live in his old neighborhood near McKinley Park, when he has the means to live anywhere he chooses. Check out the video and get an idea of what it is like to be an local rockstar, live in one of OKC’s not-so-nice neighborhoods (though I think it is getting better), and have your own alley in Bricktown. Probably the highlight is when he talks about some close calls with armed robbers while working at the old Long John Silver’s at 30th & Classen – makes it sound like South L.A or something.

Tour of Oklahoma City with the Flaming Lips’ Wayne Coyne! from imagiNATIVEamerica on Vimeo.

If you aren’t excited about “Core to Shore” yet, you should be. Take a second to get familiar with the plan…




…then let the brilliant animation from Oklahoma City firm Skyline Ink take you there. NOTE: large file size, may take some time to stream.


Oklahoma City’s “Core to Shore” – by skylineink from imagiNATIVEamerica on Vimeo.

Here is the video again with some helpful commentary from Mayor Mick Cornett:

Special thanks to Eddie for bringing the video to my attention and to Derek at Skyline Ink for allowing me to post it. More of Skyline Ink’s amazing work can be found on their website!

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